Breast Cancer Drug Should Be Made Widely Available

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Debra Orr, a Canadian woman who has survived breast cancer twice, says that all women deserve access to the new drug Herceptin. Orr says that the life-saving and life-improving drug should be made available widely so that women suffering from this deadly cancer have a chance of successfully fighting it.

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Currently, there is no uniform policy and the drug is federally funded in some provinces, while it is not available under a federal health-care program in some. Alberta is till reviewing the drug, while Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and B.C fund the drug. "Any drug that assists someone in achieving a longer life and better life, no question, should be covered. But there are so many sides to the issue. Maybe it shouldn't be only provincial, it should be federal, as well," Ms Orr told the Calgary Sun. Herceptin has been approved for the treatment of advanced and aggressive breast cancer in Canada from 1998. Recently, the drug showed promise in preventing the relapse of breast cancer and women in the West, particularly in Britain have been fighting to have it included in the NHS. UK Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has asked the officials to speed up the process of reviewing Herceptin so that it can be made widely available to women with breast cancer.

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